


Cait Catches A Cat

by Nightelfbane



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Cats, Cute, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, cat rescue, literal fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-03 20:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21185522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightelfbane/pseuds/Nightelfbane
Summary: Cait and Nora embark on the most important mission in the Commonwealth:Rescuing a cat from a tree.





	Cait Catches A Cat

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism and spelling/grammatical corrections welcome!

Cait sighed. She really didn't understand why they were doing this.

Dogmeat was sniffing at the ground, following the scent he had picked up off of the old pillow the teary eyed girl had given them. Nora was following close behind, her shotgun strapped to her back next to her pack. Cait trudged along behind her, carrying the cat's pillow.

Cait sighed again.

Nora looked over her shoulder. "Something the matter, Cait?"

Cait glared at her. "It's _hot_," she complained. "And we've been trampin' around here all day for a _cat_. What's the fuckin' point, Nora?"

Nora shrugged and faced forward. "We have a chance to help. To make a sad little girl happy. Isn't that enough?"

"What do _we_ get out of this?" She demanded.

Nora shrugged again. "Nothing, really. Just the knowledge that we did something good." She looked over her shoulder again. "Wouldn't _you _have wanted someone to come and help you when you were a kid?"

"The world don't work like that," Cait replied bitterly. "People don't just go around helpin' others out of the goodness of their hearts."

"Cait, _we've_ spent the last couple weeks helping settlers protect their homes from ghouls and raiders." She slowed her pace so she and Cait could walk side by side.

The Irishwoman sent a sidelong glare at her. "If you go around helpin' people for free, they'll take everything you have until there's nothin' left."

Nora's hand came to rest on her shoulder. The feel of her skin on hers sent a warm thrill running though her that Cait couldn't explain.

"Oh, I'm not so sure," she said lightly. "After all, you didn't."

That shocked Cait into silence.

Nora had freed her from the Combat Zone, with only the expectation that Cait watched her back and carried some of the useless junk she picked up. She had dropped everything she was doing and brought them to Vault 95 as soon as Cait had asked. Logically, there was nothing stopping Cait from taking her share of the loot and just slipping off into the night, and yet she hadn't.

Cait didn't have time to think about what that meant because at that moment, Dogmeat started barking.

Nora's hand left her shoulder, and Cait found herself missing the contact.

Dogmeat was circling a dead tree, tongue lolling out when he wasn't barking. Nora and Cait shaded their eyes and looked up into the bare branches, and there was Ashes, the gray tabby. He was clutching a branch midway up the tree and didn't seem to be likely to let go anytime soon.

"Good boy, Dogmeat!" Nora crouched down and scratched the dog under the chin, and he positively melted into the contact.

"Alright, so we found the cat, finally," Cait said, still staring into the tree. "Now what? How do we get him down?"

"Easy. I climb the tree. Dogmeat, sit," Nora ordered. Dogmeat sat obediently, no longer barking.

The vault dweller leaned her pack and shotgun against the base of the tree before she started her ascent. Grabbing rough gnarls in the bark, she pulled herself up, foot by foot.

She reached the first branch and the climbing got easier. Thankfully, Ashes was stuck on one of the lower branches and Nora didn't have to climb very high. The grey tabby had his claws dug into the dead wood, making low, unhappy noises.

"Hey there, little guy," Nora murmured soothingly to him. He was perched away from the tree's trunk, level with her shoulder but out of arm's reach. She climbed a bit higher and settled herself on the branch, facing Ashes. Keeping a tight grip on the branch, she began scooching closer.

When she was within arm's reach of the cat, she slowly reached out and presented her hand, letting Ashes smell her before she gently scratched his head. Though still frightened, he leaned into it with a soft _mrow_.

"Sweet boy," she cooed.

Now the hard part. She let go of the branch with her other hand and reached for the cat to try to lift him from the branch, leaving her with no hands to catch herself should she lose her balance. Ashes gave a distressed growl when she tried to tug him from the branch, digging his claws into the dead wood.

"Careful, Nora!" Cait cried, watching from below.

Nora gently pried the cat's claws from the branch, earning herself an unhappy hiss and a couple scratches. She quickly brought the twisting and squirming Ashes to her chest where he quickly dug his claws into her road leathers.

"Okay, you just...keep doing that, and I'll just..." Nora trailed off as she started shuffling backwards awkwardly, one hand on the branch and another holding the cat close to her.

The climb down was harder than the climb up, as she had one hand preoccupied with Ashes. One branch at a time, she descended until she stepped foot back onto solid ground next to Cait.

Cait stepped closer to get a look at Ashes. He was starting to calm down from his ordeal, and had loosened his death grip on Nora's leathers. He _was _cute, Cait had to admit. He didn't seem worse for wear from his adventure in the wasteland, only having bits of leaves and twigs caught in his fur to show for it.

Cait was just starting to think she could maybe see the appeal of cats when Nora said, "Here, hold this," and shoved him into her arms.

"Hey, wait - what? Nora!" The brawler sputtered, suddenly trying to contain an armful of squirming Ashes.

Nora laughed at the sight as she picked up her pack and gun. "I climbed up to get him, now _you _have to carry him back."

Cait glared daggers at her, trying to ignore the way her heart fluttered at the sound of her laughter. Nora turned and started marching away, Dogmeat following happily at her heels. With a sigh, Cait followed suit.

Fortunately, Ashes seemed to have settled down, cradled upside down in her arms. While they walked back to Vault 81, Cait looked down at the furry animal in her arms. Ashes gazed back at her, completely unabashed, and gave her a small _mrow._

She tentatively raised her hand and started scratching the cat's face, trying to replicate what Nora had done in the tree. She figured she was doing it right, because Ashes leaned into her hand and let out a deep purr. He even began kneading the air with his paws.

Cait couldn't help but smile at the sight.

* * *

They got back to the vault just as the sun began setting. Their return was greeted with grateful smiles from the guards when they saw Ashes in Cait's arms.

"Erin's been worried sick about the little guy. Thanks for bringing him back," the security guard said, before opening the elevator door for them. Nora, Dogmeat, and Cait with Ashes piled in and tried to get comfortable in the cramped elevator for the long ride down.

Nora and Cait were pressed together awkwardly in the cramped elevator, but Cait couldn't bring herself to call it unpleasant. As she stared at the column of Nora's neck, still shining with sweat from their excursion, she started to realize why.

_Oh, hell,_ Cait thought, as her gaze travelled up from Nora's neck to meet her eyes. _I've got it bad._

Nora's brown eyes bored into Cait's green. Their faces were mere inches apart, and Cait couldn't help but notice the flush decorating her cheeks. _It's just from the heat, _Cait told herself. _It don't mean anything. _Nora's gaze moved from her eyes to her lips. _She was married. To a man. She don't like you that way._ Despite her internal protests, Cait found herself leaning closer, and she could swear that Nora was too. Her lips were parted slightly and Cait's heart was pounding as their lips grew closer, and closer, and then they were -

\- And then the elevator door opened with a hiss and a series of strained clanks, causing both women to jump back, startled, blushes coloring both their faces. They quickly fled the elevator, simultaneously grateful and disappointed to be out of the cramped space.

"L-let's go find that girl, yeah?" Cait said shakily.

"Right," Nora replied quickly.

They walked to the Combes residence in silence, each of them absorbed by their own thoughts. When they arrived, they knocked on the metal door and were greeted by Alexis Combes. She smiled when she saw Ashes in Cait's arms and beckoned them inside.

"Thank you so, so much," she said. "Erin has been so worried."

"It was our pleasure," Nora said.

"_Ashes!_"

The three of them turned to see a blue and yellow blur race from one of the bedrooms, stopping in front of Cait and Ashes. Erin Combes held up eager hands to the silver tabby, her face a picture of relief and joy.

Ashes wiggled out of Cait's arms and into Erin's, nuzzling her face and chirping happily. Erin was crying happy tears as she hugged the tabby to her. Cait and Nora both smiled at the sight. Erin carried Ashes into her bedroom, presumably to reunite him with his food bowl.

Cait and Nora said their goodbyes to goodbyes to Alexis, who thanked them again profusely, before exiting the family's residence. They headed towards the room Overseer McNamara had given Nora after she helped cure Austin. After a long day of running around the Commonwealth, Cait was more than ready for a hot shower and a soft bed. However, the two women were stopped halfway down the corridor by a young voice behind them.

"Hey, wait!"

Cait turned just in time for Erin to slam into her midsection, driving a surprised _oof _from her. Erin's arms wrapped around her middle in a tight hug. She looked up at Cait, meeting her gaze with watery eyes.

"Thank you for bringing Ashes home."

Something warm and light unfolded from her heart, spreading through her chest. Looking down at the innocent child clinging to her, she realized she would never understand her parents. She didn't really mind, though._  
_

She wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah, no problem. I was happy to do it." And she meant it, she realized. Maybe this was what Nora had been trying to say.

At that thought, she glanced over at the vault dweller. Nora was positively beaming at her, and her wide smile and bright, joyful eyes caused the strange warm thing nestled in Cait's chest to spread to her belly, settling in as a heavy, pleasant glow.

As Erin disengaged from the hug and headed back to her room, Cait found herself smiling as well.

* * *

When Cait left the shower, dressed in her sleep clothes and rubbing at her damp hair with a towel, Nora was already in the room's one bed, and Dogmeat was curled up on the floor at its foot. She was wearing her old vault suit, which she had declared to be "excellent pajamas", and was lying on her side facing away from her, playing some game on her Pip-Boy. Cait lifted the covers and slid in behind her wordlessly.

They laid together in silence for a while before Cait spoke up.

"Hey, Nora?"

"Hmm?" The vault dweller didn't look up from her game

"You were right before. About helping people."

Nora paused for a moment before turning off her Pip-Boy and rolling over to face Cait. She propped herself up on one elbow, mirroring her.

Cait took a deep breath and continued. "Helping Erin felt...good. I think it helped me finally understand why you do it, why you run around for the Minutemen and the Railroad."

Cait's glanced down from Nora's eyes to her lips before looking back up again.

"And it helped me understand why I still haven't ditched you, just run off with my share of the loot and found the nearest bar to drink myself to death in."

Nora smiled gently at her, reaching forward and putting a hand on her arm. "Because you're a good person, Cait. It's just taken you a while to realize it."

Cait looked away, her eyes falling on the scars that littered her arms. Some were from psycho injections, others from her years as a brawler. At least two were from the parents she had killed.

Her? A good person?

"I mean it, Cait." She looked back up at Nora. The other woman was looking at her with an intensity that startled her. "You _are _a good person. You've stuck by me through everything these past few months and I couldn't have made it without you. You were there when I killed Kellogg, you were there when I buried my husband..."

Nora's voice grew softer, and Cait realized that their faces were mere inches apart. "You've held me when I cried, you've patched me up when I got hurt..." A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "And you've put up with my incessant hoarding, too!"

"You're a strong, caring, wonderful, beautiful woman, Cait, and I..."

She trailed off, her brown eyes gazing deep into Cait's green, before leaning forward and pressing their lips together.

Cait stiffened in surprise, but she relaxed almost instantly and brought her hand up to cup Nora's face. Her lips were warm and she tasted like mint from her toothpaste and Cait never wants to stop kissing her. But eventually they must, and they pull away from each other reluctantly, pressing their foreheads together instead. Cait left her hand on Nora's face, tracing small circles on her cheek with her thumb.

"D'you mean it?" Cait asked breathlessly.

Nora smiled. "Of course I do."

Cait suddenly rolled the other woman onto her back, straddling her hips. Her surprised giggles were cut off by Cait's fervent kiss. Nora's hand slipped under the hem of her nightshirt, and then the two women were lost to warm embraces and passionate kisses.

Afterwards, Cait lay on her side, spooned by Nora. The vault dweller had an arm thrown over Cait, holding her close. As the redhead's eyes drifted shut, she grabbed the other woman's hand with her own, lacing their fingers together.

She still wasn't sure if she believed she was a good person. But if the kindest, most amazing person she had ever met said that she had a single decent scrap of humanity within her...maybe one day, she would be able to believe.

**Author's Note:**

> Will I ever write a fic that doesn't end with the characters falling asleep while cuddling?  
The world may never know.
> 
> Anyway so according to the wiki, Cait likes it if you kill the cat.  
And I think that's bullshit.  
She's rough and tough but I can't imagine her as senselessly cruel.  
She sure as hell wouldn't be evil towards children, considering her upbringing.  
So I wrote this to fix things. And also because Cait and cats are cute.  
Anyway please leave a comment so I don't hate myself.


End file.
